


Teenager In Love

by ninjabiran (tomatoes)



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: (kevin isn't shipped w/ anyone don't worry), Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, o boy here we go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 14:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4063777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatoes/pseuds/ninjabiran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan's pretty content with his high school life. He's got good friends, talents he loves, and no drama. It's turning out better than everyone told him it would.</p><p>And then he had to fuck up and crush on his best friend.</p><p>What's the point of romance?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All three of my drafts have titles that are also the names of songs. I feel like that says something about me.
> 
> High school AUs are my favorite AUs, guys. Besides college AUs, of course. 
> 
> MORE RAZZABANG BECAUSE I HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL.

Dan kicks his locker closed with his right foot, throwing his backpack over his shoulder mindlessly. Why did they give him a locker on the bottom row? He's one of the tallest guys in school.

"Hey man, you ready to go? We've got two minutes 'till class starts." Arin asks from his seat against the wall. He doesn't bother to look up from his phone, continuing to swipe up with his thumb and tap occasionally.

"Shit, really? What class is it?" This time Arin does look up, scrunching up his nose and furrowing his brow.

"...you have Bio, with The Ferdinator."

"Oh, it's cool. She loves me." Dan shrugs nonchalantly, falling into stride next to his friend.

"She likes you? How?"

"I don't draw pictures of her face on the body of a certain 80's sci-fi movie character." Arin snorts, before punching Dan in the arm.

"Whatever, dude. That is by far my best work."

Dan huffs out of his nose, a small smile stretching across his face. "Alright. See you at lunch, buddy." They part ways, Arin continuing down the hallway as Dan slides into the classroom, trying to sneak to his usual seat as quietly as possible. Barry glances up at him and gestures to move faster. He reaches it and sits down just before Mrs. Ferdinand looks up and scans the room.

"Are all of you here?" A girl in the front of the room turns in her chair.

"I think Suzy's sick today."

"Yes...I believe she is, thank you, Holly."

Dan leaned over to Barry, who's still buried in whatever playlist he's making. He paws at the cord of his headphones gently, and Barry jerks and turns off his phone quickly. He pulls the buds out of his ears. "What?"

"Isn't that Ross's girlfriend? Holly? The one he mentioned this weekend?"

"Yeah. They've been together all of a week. I'm surprised she's kept up with him that long."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, y'know, Ross is energetic and stuff." Barry puts one bud back in his ear and looks back down at his phone. 

Dan frowns. Things have been weird between he and Barry lately—he isn't sure if it's something he's done, or if it's the impending stress of midterms that's driving him off. Had he been acting too nonchalant when it came to those tests? Barry was one to take them seriously, maybe he'd been joking too much.

"Hey, can I look at your notes for a sec?" Barry turned to him.

"Dude, you know I haven't been doing that shit for months." Dan cracked a smile.

Barry sighed through his nose and looked back at the board, continuing to write on his paper. Dan's smile slowly shrank. Barry usually joked around with him about this—playfully insisting he studied or he'd "never get into a good college, mister—and then you'd have to live with me and you'd be a terrible roommate!". Everything was off. Dan pressed his lips together and looked up to the board as a cold, grey feeling washed over him. He really hoped he hadn't hurt Barry—he was one of his closest friends, and losing that would be devastating.

The rest of the day was a blur for Dan, and he was home flopped on his bed before he could even realize it. He buried his face into his pillow, still pondering over what could've made his friend so distant.

His phone chimed.

Speak of the devil.

_Text Message 7:36 p.m._

_B: hey Dan, do you have the Spanish homework for tonight?_

_D: it's not up on the site?_

_B: nah, she forgot to put it up again. bet she'll blame us tomorrow if we don't have it done, too_

_B: she's nuts_

_D: haha yeah man_

_D: i think she said pg. 83-84 right?_

_B: oh yeah, I remember now. thanks so much_

_B: so hows studying going for you?_

_B: if you're not just up listening to music, that is. >:)_

This is what he didn't understand—everything perfectly normal over text, and then as soon as they were together in person, everything got awkward. Dan didn't get it—why was Barry acting like this?

_D: haha you got me_

_D: i might actually take an early night tonight though. catch up on my beauty sleep_

_B: but Dan! you don't NEED beauty sleep!_

Dan felt his face get hot. Woah, okay, that was weird, nothing's up here, just guys being dudes. Being pals. Joking around. Think of a response, damnit!

_D: well, duh_

Okay, that was weak as hell.

_B: alright, I'm gonna work on that homework now. thanks again!_

_D: no problem. see you tomorrow_

Dan turned off his lamp, curling up under his comforter and slipping his jeans off.

Yep.

See you tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is finally finished! I'm pretty proud of it, although some things may be a bit OOC. (cough arin cough)
> 
> Woohoo, my first multi-chapter fic! Hopefully I won't abandon it. I might. I hope not.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything was terrible, Dan decided as he dragged his feet to his car at 7 a.m. on a depressingly overcast Wednesday morning. Barry was ignoring him, there were tests coming up...

Well, that was all that was really bothering him at the moment. Still, it took a tremendous amount of effort for him to kick his caffeine-deprived body into gear and drive to school.

He sighed. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to spend most of last night going through what little class notes he had and devising a study guide for himself. Barry did have a point—studying was important, and he definitely didn't want to fail exams. He pretended he wasn't rehearsing his speech for Barry about why he was studying in his head.

He got to school almost ten minutes early, which was rare, considering he was usually rolling into first period late with a coffee and no regrets. He caught Barry in the hallway, sitting against a wall and highlighting something. He leaned against the wall and slid down next to him. "Sup, nerd?"

Barry looked up and scoffed. "Not much, slacker."

"C'mon, is that the best you got? But really, I need your help." He pulled his crumpled study guide out of his backpack. "Inspired by a good friend of mine—" he paused to smile at Barry cheesily— "I've decided to work harder on my midterm prep."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. And since you're infinitely smarter and more organized than I am, I have come to you for tips."

"Well, Mr. Avidan, you might want to start on something other than a crumpled sheet of notebook paper. I'm guessing you ripped this out of a binder on a whim?"

"You know me so well."

"Okay, and then you need to have some notes to work with. You can borrow mine, because I am a great friend and note-taker."

"When can you get me those?"

"I dunno. I can text pictures to you?"

"Sure, awesome." _Fuckin' score, dude. Things are back to normal._ Dan just hoped that they would stay that way for more than a day.

Barry pulled out his phone. "Hey, it's eight. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sure." _Please don't be weird later, man._

Morning classes were, as usual, tiring, and Dan fought to keep his eyes open as the teacher gestured at the equation on the board. He had a vague outline of it on his paper, not really having the mental capacity to write it all down. Seriously, it was less than a week until winter break, why are we even learning?

 _Do it for Barry, dude!_ Yeah, that was a fair point. He really was trying to apply himself, for who, he didn't know, but he knew that if he wanted Barry to keep helping him, he couldn't show up empty-handed. Time with him was few and far between, considering they had almost no classes together—considering the younger actually applied himself, and got into Honors—so quality time with him was a precious minimum.

Dan pretended that he hadn't actually just called time with Barry "quality time" and let the rest of the classes slip away, eventually ending up at lunch. He hurried over to his table at the back of the lunchroom and slid into his usual seat next to Arin, who had gotten there earlier and was already talking with Suzy. He said a quick "hey" to both of them and let them continue with their conversation. Dan was honestly a little bit jealous—they were arguably the longest-lasting couple at their school, having been together for over a year. He felt like he needed some sort of continuity like that.

He perked up as Barry walked into the room and flopped down next to him, looking bleary-eyed. "Man, why do they keep the lights in the computer lab so low? It's hard to stay awake in there."

"That's why I bring caffeine, dude," Kevin sat down across from him. He set his comically large coffee thermos down on the table, as if he were proving a point. "I don't know how you make it through that class without something to wake you up."

Dan didn't know Kevin very well yet, he had only moved into town about a month ago and was a grade below him, so the only time they talked was lunch. Barry had met him through coding class, and he had become the newest member of their little circle quickly.

"I dunno. I just don't know how he expects us to finish this project before break. It deserves at least a month of work, and he's only giving us a week!"

"Fuck deadlines, dude. He's getting mine when it's done."

Barry simply hummed in what was not quite agreement, but maybe appreciation. "I'm just gonna do the best I can, you know?"

Dan had been suppressing some sort of emotion while they were talking (not jealousy, no, no, he probably just felt excluded, yeah) so he turned away from his sandwich to talk to them. "What's going on in computer-land?"

"A rebellion against the tyrannical king." Kevin said drearily. Barry laughed, and Dan felt the emotion flare up again.

"Just a dumb project that's due soon. We need to code an entire front page of a website, like, clean graphics, sticky _everything_ , rollovers, the whole shbang—"

"—Which I'm guessing is crazy-hard? Or it just takes a crazy-long time?"

"Yeah, and we have to do it in a week."

"Aw, man. I mean, I can't really feel for you cause I don't know what that stuff is but...that sucks?" Dan tried desperately. He was grasping at straws now, he realized sadly. Couldn't he just have a normal conversation with Barry for more than three seconds?

"Well, thanks anyway." Barry said with a smile that looked a little too forced. He turned back to Kevin, and Dan turned back to his lunch, defeated.

 _Hey, it has to get back to normal at some point, right?_ Dan sighed through his nose. _I hope so._

As soon as Dan got home he flopped on the couch, which was never a good sign, as usually he had enough energy to at least make it to his bed before he procrastinated for an hour.

"Dan? Are you home?" His sister called from upstairs. Dan decided he was in no mood to reply. When the silence stretched on for twenty seconds, he heard her call, "If you're a robber or a murderer or something, can you please not do this right now? I'm kind of busy—"

"Dana, it's me." Dan said, voice still muffled from being face down on the couch.

"Oh, good. Mom and Dad are out at a board meeting thing, they won't be home until around ten. There's pizza in the fridge!" 

"Thanks," He trudged over to the kitchen and pulled the fridge open. He put two slices in the microwave and pulled out his phone, mindlessly tapping away as the numbers ticked down. Once it started beeping, he grabbed the plate and went up the stairs to his room.

He threw open his laptop with what may have been a little too much force. He sighed, pondering whether or not to study, and eventually decided that he should be smart and work.

_B: hey dude, can I come over to yours?_

_D: why?_

_D: i mean its no problem but can i ask why_

_B: I'm trying to work and it's too loud here to focus_

_D: oh yeah ok_

_D: come over anytime_

_B: thanks a bunch dude, I'll be over in 10 minutes or so_

_D: np see you then_

Dan put his phone down and sighed. He did a once-over of his room. Clean enough, he decided. He pulled the comforter over his bed so that it was a little bit less bunched, then sat back down at his chair and turned back to the book.

"Dana! I have a friend coming over!"

"Who?"

"Barry!"

"Okay!"

Good thing Barry was one of Dan's quieter friends. Dana was also stressing over college midterms, and the last thing she needed was he and Ross or Arin laughing and yelling at each other over a video game.

Barry showed up sooner than Dan expected—it had been ten minutes, he confirmed by a quick check of his phone, but he still felt unprepared for some reason when he ran downstairs to greet him at the door.

"'Sup, dude? Just head up to my room, I promise it's quiet," Dan said happily. Barry smiled and followed him up the stairs. Dan moved his book from his desk and threw it onto the bed. "Desk is all yours. There's an outlet behind it to the right, if you run out of charge."

"You're a lifesaver, you know that? I don't know what I'd do without you." Barry said happily.

"I do my best." Dan's cheeks were turning warm, and he forced the fuzzy feeling in his stomach away as he jumped on his bed and reopened the book. Studying was somehow harder, however. He felt hyper-aware of Barry's presence in the room, every click of his mouse or sudden flurry of tapping keys reminded him that he was alone with his—

_Hold on just a second, Leigh Daniel Avidan._

He tried furiously to keep his mind from traveling further down the path that thought was taking. _Don't think it, dude. Don't you fucking dare think it. Once you start thinking about that shit, you can never go back. He's your friend, he's your best friend, you've known him for years and you're not going to make a mistake as dumb as—_

—crush.

"Fffffuck."

"You okay?"

"Oh—y-yeah, it's just, like, physics and stuff, like, it's trippy to think about how colors are just light playing with our eyes, y'know?"

Barry laughed. "Don't worry, I had that crisis too."

Did you, Barry? Did you?

Dan cursed under his breath again and grimaced.

_Wait, shit. Am I gay?_

_Nah, dude. Boobs._

_Oh, that's right. Maybe I'm bi._

Dan reached for his phone in his back pocket and pulled it out, quickly opening the internet. He froze there. What should he even type? What question could he ask this vast source of knowledge that would in any way help this situation?

"im gay for my best friend"

Eloquent.

Answers turned up and he frantically clicked the first one, hoping for any sort of help. He combed through all of them, reading all the answers, how to tell them, how to take it if they say no, how to deal with your feelings around them—

"Are you bored? I'm bored," Barry's voice broke the silence and Dan jumped like he'd heard a gunshot. He quickly composed himself as Barry spun around in the desk chair, facing Dan. "I can finish my project later this week."

"Alright." Dan said simply, turning back to his phone. He wasn't on any level prepared for Barry to flop onto the bed beside him. Dan suppressed his jerk reaction of throwing his phone out the window and flipped it over, willing it to turn off with all his might. Barry didn't know his passcode, right? Oh god.

"Hey, someone's skittish. Don't want me looking at all that gross porn you're watching?"

Dan laughed nervously. "Yeah, not sure how you'd feel about my foot fetish."

Barry giggled, thank god, and nudged Dan with his hip. Dan shuffled over, and he moved all the way onto the bed. Despite being a foot away from each other, Dan still felt intimately close to Barry.

 _It's probably just because you're not used to thinking about him..._ this _way._

Barry propped his head up on both of his hands and looked at Dan cheesily. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"Do you think anyone likes me?" Dan blurted maybe a bit too quickly. "Like, in a romantic way."

"Do you need a date for the dance, or something?"

"No, I was just wondering. Maybe you heard something, I don't know."

"I mean, I think Bella likes you—"

"Dude, all the sophomores like me. It's weird."

"I know. Poor Kevin, he doesn't have a chance," Barry said in a mock-sad voice. Dan snorted. "Well, at least some girls like you."

Dan turned to Barry, eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm kind of an outcast! It's no big deal, really." Barry said, shrugging.

"Barry, I am one hundred percent sure that there is someone that likes you." _Whether or not you like him back is the real question._

Barry smiled. "Thanks, dude. Oh god, we sound like preteen girls."

"So what? Ohmygod, let's paint our nails, Debbie!" Dan said in a terribly high, squeaky voice. Barry laughed, and Dan felt like his heart had stopped.

"But really, don't you ever feel hopeless? About romantic stuff," Barry's voice lowered until Dan could hear every rasp, every slur from the exhaustion of talking with someone late at night. "Like, Arin and Suzy are dating, Ross and Holly...it kinda feels like we're surrounded by couples."

"Kevin! And me." Dan chirped. "We're both single." He added for emphasis.

Barry looked over at him and their eyes met, and Dan decided that if they were to have late-night chats that they could never make eye contact because his mind was running wild and it was all he could do to not lean in and—

"If we're still single in twenty years, we should just date each other, okay?"

Oh no.

"Yeah, totally." _Or we could date right now. Your choice, really._

It wasn't until Barry had left with a quick "thanks" that Dan really had time to think about the implications of having a crush on Barry. I mean, it couldn't be that bad, could it? He just had to suppress his feelings and go about normal life.

Unless he liked him back. Dan humored the thought for a while as he climbed into bed, pulling the blankets over himself and burrowing into them like a cocoon. A warm feeling spread throughout his body and he smiled.

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, this chapter is long. Seriously, the first chapter is something like 25% of this one. You have been warned.
> 
> This story is such a strange combination of every high school stereotype to ever exist. I hope you guys like (tastefully written) cliches, because there are a lot more coming. Also, sorry if the coding stuff is a bit off, I haven't taken a proper coding class since seventh grade.
> 
> EDIT 8/16/15: I noticed there was a huge chunk of text that didn't pick up the breaks, so I went in and fixed that. Sorry for the inconvenience!
> 
> i'm on tumblr at ninjabiran!


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, you never did text me those notes." It was fifth period, and Dan had suddenly remembered the promise that Barry had made to give him his notes for studying.

"Oh, I totally forgot! Here, I'll text you them now."

After a night of getting used to the new found feelings he held for the quiet programmer, Dan was confident in his ability to mask any sort of affection which may try to seep into his words. Well, not totally confident, but he trusted himself.

"Okay, I sent them."

"Thanks," Dan scanned them briefly. "Dude, I don't know how to fuckin' study."

Barry sighed and turned to him again. Dan felt his heart jump—had he accidentally pushed him too far again? Shit, shit, what if he gets, like, really mad—

"It's okay, you probably just weren't taught properly as a kid or something. I can help sometime, if you want." Barry said nonchalantly.

"Oh—yeah dude, that would be awesome!" He was wandering into rocky territory, and he knew it. He felt exposed and defenseless, like he had been stripped of all defense mechanisms and thrust into a cave of angry bears.

In conclusion, crushes sucked.

Dan was interrupted from his walk to study hall by someone calling his name. "Dan! Dude, I gotta tell you something!" Arin fell into stride beside him, looking overly excited and a little out of breath.

"Okay, so you know how everyone wants an after party for the dance but no one actually wants to organize it so it just ends up being a group of ten people getting high behind the storage shed?"

"Oh, I am aware."

"We should totally throw an after party! C'mon dude, it'll be great."

"Alright, I'm down. Where is this happening?"

"I dunno, my house, probably. My parents will be with my brother looking at colleges or something, so we can pull it off."

"Sounds fun."

"Awesome. This Friday, okay? You better be there!"

"This Friday? What's going on?" Suzy caught up to them, slinging an arm around Arin's shoulders and looking up expectantly.

"Hey, Suze. We're throwing an after party at my house after the dance. I'm assuming you'll be there..." His sentence trailed off and he looked at her giddily.

"Babe, of course." Suzy smiled. Dan felt jealousy bubble again as they sat down at a table in the library.

_Nobody's calling me babe. Somebody should be, though. SomeBARRY. Haha, I'm a genius._

"...So yeah, if we get everyone out early enough and they don't make too much of a mess we should be able to get everything back in order way before my parents get home."

Dan nodded, trying to pretend like he hadn't been zoning out for half of the sentence. Arin and Suzy continued throwing around party ideas with Dan only half paying attention.

 _Wonder if Barry will come. He's not really a party type, but we'll be there, right? He can hang out with us. Maybe we can go off somewhere quiet together..._ As he pulled books and things out of his bag, he allowed himself to drift into fantasies. _We could go outside alone...or into an empty room and talk together. With nice lighting. We could sit on the bed and talk about things, like how much I like him and then we'll—_

Dan's train of thought halted there as he realized he was describing a scene from Mean Girls.

He sighed. It was concerning, honestly—like a floodgate had been opened as soon as he admitted his dumb crush on his friend. It was against everything he had been conditioned to think—sure, no one he knew personally would be against him coming out, but the jabs he heard directed at people across rooms through elementary and middle school had left his younger, more curious self paralyzed. He had really been repressing his...this for years, he realized.

Well, he was okay now. He was going to make this work, somehow. Even if Barry didn't like him, he could find other people. But for now, he decided, he was going to focus on the former.

"Okay, this is officially going to be awesome." Arin said excitedly.

"Do you think Barry will come?" Dan immediately regretted asking. _Ohhh shitshitshit, was that too forward? Oh god, cover it, cover it._ "I don't really know many people, so I'll probably just cling to him the whole time, y'know..."

"Oh, good idea. Can you ask him for me?"

"Oh, uh, sure." The bell rang—thank god—and Dan quickly shoved all evidence of work into his backpack. "Okay, I'm gonna go now. Bye!" Arin and Suzy looked confused but waved goodbye nonetheless.

Dan walked to his car quickly, cursing under his breath the whole way. The drive home was thick with self-embarrassment, if that was a thing. Dan decided it would be a thing, because he was sure feeling it right now.

He got home and was immediately gifted with a jolt from his after-school relaxed state.

_Arin changed the chat name from Group to AFTERPARTY BITCHEZ_

_A: afterparty at my place after the dance_

Dan barely managed to get a glimpse of his address before the chat exploded. He tapped on the info button and groaned as he saw pages upon pages of numbers. There had to be at least 50 people in the chat. Dan decided that he was at least lucky that Arin's acquaintance circles only stretched so far.

Well, he had a topic, so he had an excuse text Barry.

_D: dude are you seeing this group chat_

_B: ugh, don't even talk to me about it._

_D: it might be pointless to ask_

_D: but have uou considered going to arins party_

_D: *you_

There was a horribly long period of 3 minutes where Barry didn't respond. Dan could feel the panic rising in his chest. Did he fuck up again? Oh god, what if he fucked up again—

_B: I'm gonna go, I think it'll be fun_

_D: really?_

_B: I mean, you'll be there, right?_

_B: that way if it gets old I have someone to bail with :)_

Dan ignored the alarmingly warm feeling in his chest.

_D: fair point_

_D: see you there i guess_

_B: we still have school tomorrow, Dan._

_D: oh! that's right. see you tomorrow then_

_B: night_

Dan did what any emotionally compromised teenager would do and listened to love songs and thought about his feelings.

But it's not like he was in love with Barry, right? No, no, they were barely seventeen, the thought of love was one he considered himself too young to approach. Either way, he felt some sort of romantic way towards him, that was abundantly clear.

Had he always felt this way? How recent were these feelings? He squeezed his eyes shut and grasped desperately for any sort of clues from when they were younger.

Wait a fucking second. They were just out of fifth grade, sitting on the cold concrete floor of Barry's basement, playing some video game he couldn't remember, and he remembered looking at him and his heart doing some sort of flip-flop-happy-thing.

"Six fucking years?!" He exclaimed maybe a bit too loudly. He grimaced and leaned to look out his door. Seeing that no one was there, he flopped back down on his bed in relief. 

He'd have to tell him at some point, he figured. When that was going to be was another issue. At the party, maybe? He could pass it off as him being drunk or high later on if he didn't like him back. Yeah—that was perfect. And if he did like him...

Dan fell asleep with happy thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late, guys! Writer's block hit me hard. Which is also why this chapter is so dialogue-heavy. (and a little rushed hahaaa)  
> Also, question: Why is it always Arin throwing the huge party in my fics? I don't even see him as the "big partier" type. I really can't write Arin in general. Oh well.
> 
> (also it's my razzabang-iversary! can't believe i've been shipping these dorks for a year now.)
> 
> i'm on tumblr at ninjabiran!


	4. Chapter 4

"Have you ever noticed that Thursday is like, the November of the week?"

Dan snorted. "What?"

"No, dude, really!" Arin laughed. "Like, it's right before Friday, or Christmas—"

"Oh yeah, the month of Christmas."

"Dude, shut up. Anyways, so it's just ignored, y'know? Like November."

"Like, Thursday has awesome food but that's all that's good about it?"

"Yeah! You know what I mean."

"Sure."

"Anyways, dude, are you going to the dance?"

"Nah. I'm probably just gonna hit up your party later."

"What? C'mon dude, it'll be fun!" Arin fell silent for a moment. "Is it because you have no one to go with?"

"No!" Dan sputtered for a solid fifteen seconds before he was able to speak coherently. "That's dumb. Why would I be concerned about that?"

Arin laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Why'd you get all defensive? Do you actually care?" Dan sighed maybe a bit too loudly, because Arin's grin slipped off his face. "Hey, y'know, if you're actually, like, insecure about it, it's cool. We were all sort of going as a group anyways." Dan looked at him. He had known Arin forever, he could trust him, right?

"Actually, there's...someone who I've kind of realized my feelings for—"

"What? _Who?!_ "

"Dude, chill! And be quiet, too. People jump on couple rumors fast."

"Sorry. Who, who, who?"

"I...can't tell you." Arin had known Barry for as long as Dan had—this was something he would have to do later.

"Does anyone else know? Do _they_ know?" Arin asked, trying and failing to do an eyebrow waggle.

"No, no one else knows. I just feel like if I went to the dance, it would be with them, y'know?"

"How long have you liked this person? You seem pretty attached."

"Theoretically, a day and a half. But I think I've had underlying feelings for them for a few years now, y'know?"

"Well, whoever they are, they're pretty lucky for you to have a crush on them!" Arin said, sliding closer and once again attempting an eyebrow waggle.

"Don't be weird!" Dan said, shoving Arin away and laughing.

Thursday and Friday were a murmur overshadowed by the combination of excitement and anxiety bubbling in Dan's stomach. When he got home, it had bubbled over into a writhing mass of panic that reared its head every time he thought about the party. Arin was smart—it wouldn't take him long to figure out it was Barry. He had probably been picking up on shit for years before Dan ever came to the realization.

"I'm going to Arin's at 10, I might sleep over." His mom turned around to face him.

"Okay, honey. Have fun and be safe, okay? No leaving their house after midnight."

"Yeah, thanks. Love you." He trudged upstairs and sat wearily on the side of his bed. A wave of embarrassment hit him like a truck, and he fell back on the bed and dragged a pillow over his head in an attempt to hide from it. It was going to be a very long night.

Dan got to the party at about 10:30 and was immediately surprised at the amount of people there. A few beat-up cars were scattered here and there, but it appeared that most people had walked, which was good, because where there were copious amounts of high schoolers, there was alcohol.

He walked into the house and was greeted by loud music and a swarm of people dancing, drinking, and making out, which was to be expected. He found Arin in the living room in a circle of people surrounding Ross— _of course_ , he thought to himself—chugging a bottle of some sort of sugary-flavored vodka. He slammed it down on the table harshly when he finished the last of it. "Ffffuck yeah!" he slurred, and the circle of people broke into barely-drunk cheers.

Tonight was gonna be rough.

After wondering briefly if Ross was the world's biggest lightweight or if his main goal was to get shitfaced in the shortest time possible, he walked over to Arin and tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Dude! What's up?" He was shouting over the music and general noise of people.

"How many people are here? Didn't you only tell, like, fifty people?"

"I don't know man, stuff gets passed around quick!"

Dan paused. "Is Barry here?"

Arin laughed. "He's probably locked in the bathroom or something. He's not really cut out for this scene, is he?"

"I guess not. Make sure Ross doesn't die, okay?" He said worriedly as he watched the aforementioned grabbing yet another bottle.

"Gotcha. Go find a girl or something, you look awkward." With that, he turned back to Ross.

After sending a quick text to Barry, he began to search the house, checking in all the quiet spaces trying to find him. Finally, he got a text back, and made his way to the guest bedroom on the second floor.

The door was locked, naturally. He knocked on the door. "Barry? It's me."

The door opened soon after, revealing his very tired looking friend. "I'm surprised you aren't downstairs covered in girls."

Dan winced briefly at his friend's coldness before covering it with a joking tone. "Woah, someone's feeling salty."

"Look, I don't really want to be here, okay? And don't be offended, but I don't really want you in here either."

Dan flinched. He swallowed his feelings and stepped in despite a groan from Barry. "Are you okay, dude?"

He rubbed his face and sighed, sitting down on the bed. "I'm confused. And I have a headache. I don't really know why I came here, Arin's persuasive, I guess."

"Well...I'm here. Like we said, remember?" There was an unwelcoming silence, and Dan shifted awkwardly. "What are you confused about?"

"Nothing. I don't want to drag you into this, okay?"

"Hey, I've known you forever. You can tell me, I don't care if I get 'dragged into it' or whatever."

"Just...trust me, okay? It would do more harm than good to tell you."

"Tell me, please. I don't know what's going on, but I want to help you."

Barry looked down and appeared to be contemplating telling him when Dan's phone buzzed, and in that moment Dan cursed every technological advancement that led to them having electronics.

_A: dude come downstairs NOW._

_A: SEVEN MINUETS IN HEAVEN IS HAPPENING_

"Hey, come downstairs with me. They're playing seven minutes in heaven, we can watch people stumble over their half-baked romantic feelings."

Barry slowly smiled and stood up. "Alright."

They made it downstairs to the living room, where a crowd of about twenty people were sitting. Arin was standing on the ottoman, idly bouncing up and down as he looked over the room.

"Alright. We were gonna sit in a circle and spin a bottle but ROSS decided that he would throw them all at the tree outside, so now we don't HAVE ANY." Arin was clearly a little tipsy, as he swayed slightly from his perch on the furniture. "SO. We are going to put our names in THIS CUP—" he thrust a plastic cup into the air like a trophy— "and then I will pick names out of it, and then people will go into the closet and make out." He threw a pack of post-it notes and a pen into the group, and miraculously, most of them got their names in.

"Okay. Rachel..." She stood and walked to the closet, and Arin shut the door behind her. "and...Thomas." The second stood and walked to the closet, where Arin stood with his phone, setting the timer to seven minutes. A chatter arose among the group as they talked about Rachel and Thomas's now-relationship status. Dan turned to Barry, who was sitting next to him on the couch.

"Did you put your name in?"

Barry shrugged. "Yeah, why not. It's not like you have to do anything in there, most of the time it's just an awkward silence."

The seven minutes ticked away, and the two walked out looking embarrassed. People immediately swarmed them, asking if they kissed or liked each other. Arin stood back up on his ottoman.

"Okay! Next up is...Barry."

"Good luck, dude." Dan said as Barry sighed melodramatically and walked to the closet.

"And who's going in with him..." Arin panned the room as he stuck his hand in the cup, contemplating. He locked eyes with Dan, who tried with all of his might not to look nervous. Dan's eyes darted from his hands, to his feet, to the window, to the wall (Dan laughed to himself before resuming panic mode). A wicked grin spread across Arin's face, and Dan could've sworn he saw him mouth, "I fuckin' knew it". He pulled out a piece of paper, and without looking at it (that son of a _bitch_ ) shouted, "Dan!" He strode over, pulling him up by the wrist and practically dragging him to the closet. "Y'know, it's funny, usually you have to come out of the closet before you go back in."

"You don't even know if I—"

"Use protection!"

"I am going to kill you."

And with that, he was shoved into the closet. The door slammed behind him, allowing him a split second to find where Barry was before it became pitch black.

"So...awkward silence, right?" Dan said, laughing halfheartedly before looking away. He could hear Barry breathing roughly. "Hey, are you okay? Are you claustrophobic or something? I could tell Arin, I'm sure he'd understand—"

"No."

"...N-No to what? Are you not claustrophobic, do you not want me to tell Arin—"

"Dan, please just be quiet. I have to..." His deep breath was audible, and Dan swallowed. "I have to tell you something."

There was a solid thirty seconds of silence. The murmur of people outside provided the background noise to fill the darkness around them.

"You've known me forever...and I can tell you anything? And you don't care if you get dragged into it?"

"No."

There was a second when they were both silent. He felt hands fall awkwardly on his shoulders, feeling where he was, and the hands traveled up his neck to rest on his cheeks. Fingers brushed his lips momentarily before they were pulled away to rest uniform with the other digits resting on his face. It was so quiet, and Dan could hear his heart beating a million miles per hour and it felt like an airplane was taking off in his head as he felt his friend/crush/huge fucking problem lean into him.

Leigh Daniel Avidan has had his fair share of kisses, from coy elementary school pecks to middle school confused puberty tongue action to failed high school hookups. But out of all the kisses he's had, he found it surprising that kissing his best friend was the best of all.

Or, maybe not so surprising, Dan pondered as he brought his hand to the back of Barry's head and pulled him ever closer. It's slow and steady and so fucking great, and when Barry moves his lips to trail down Dan's cheek to his neck, he thinks he might die. He slides down onto a plastic storage box of some sort and Barry falls into his lap neatly, continuing to press light, teasing kisses to his collarbone. He pulls away and rests his forehead against Dan's and the latter thinks he might burst into tears because everything is falling into place and he loves Barry, so, so much, and it's dumb because nobody falls in love in high school but Dan did, he really did.

"I like you a lot."

"No fucking shit, Barry."

They laugh and Barry buries his face into Dan's neck and Dan wraps his arms around him and they stay that way until they hear Arin coming for the door, and they pull themselves apart and straighten themselves out (Dan is just full of jokes tonight, he thinks) just as Arin gives them a warning knock before throwing the door open. They assume neutral looks as they climb out and readjust to the light of the hallway.

"Anything happen in there, dude?" Arin asks, curiosity clearly piqued.

Dan makes sure no one's in ear shot before he leans closer to him and simply says "I'll tell you later." Arin squeals and smiles before going back to his place on the ottoman and pulling more names. Dan watches him go, pondering for a second if he should follow. That thought quickly dissolves when Barry takes his hand and pulls him back towards the guest bedroom.

"Jeez, Barry. Take me to dinner first."

He scoffs. "We're not having sex, Dan. I don't want to do any laundry tonight. But," he plants a kiss on his cheek, and Dan smiles, "I am gonna kiss you a lot."

"Fine by me."

They lock the door, and Dan feels centered for the first time in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I've never been to a party like this in my life? Yeah, I know. Now, let's continue our game of "how much inspiration does Holly take from Mean Girls".
> 
> i'm on tumblr at ninjabiran!


	5. Chapter 5

Dan is nervous. He does have sort of a reputation, after all—a sort of ladies man, if you will. Even though he's only telling his tiny friend group (sans Arin, who pestered them about everything through winter break) he's still nervous.

Barry squeezes his hand. "You okay?"

It's been nearly a month since they started dating—twenty-seven days, Dan recalls immediately. He smiles through the pressing anxiety and pushes closer to Barry, sighing fondly. Now would probably be the best time to tell their friends.

Dan squeezes back. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous."

"Why?" Barry shifts next to him, adjusting to the new weight on his side.

"I don't know...whatever reason it is, it's probably stupid."

"It's gonna be fine, okay? Arin already knows, and his reaction was totally positive. Plus, it's not like our friends are gonna be super homophobic out of nowhere."

The shorter one pauses, then presses a kiss to Dan's cheek softly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The hallway is empty, but they still keep their voices hushed. There's about fifteen minutes left until the lunch break is over. Dan swallows his fear and walks into the lunchroom, Barry following close after.

They sit down at the table, and everyone immediately looks over. Ross is the first to speak. "What were you guys doing, making out or something? You've been gone for twenty minutes."

Dan laughs and takes a deep breath. "Actually, guys, we have something to tell you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one, guys! Sorry it's so short, I wanted it to be longer but couldn't quite find anything to write about. It's been fun, and I think I'd definitely want to try multi-chapter fics again, maybe longer next time. Thanks for reading!
> 
> i'm on tumblr at ninjabiran!

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: sixpiecechickenmcnobody


End file.
